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As we continue through trading season, I like to use a quick and easy method to figure out which starting pitchers to target if I am need of an additional arm. Though xFIP is not perfect of course, it is the best metric that sums up a pitcher’s underlying skill into one tidy statistic. Every once in a while, I will take the difference between a pitcher’s ERA and his xFIP to give me an idea of which pitchers have been the most fortunate so far and which have suffered from some bad luck. Of course, the idea is that the pitcher’s ERA should soon trend toward his xFIP, assuming his underlying skills used in the xFIP calculation do not change. This could provide fantasy owners with a potential buy low and sell high candidate list. Below are the five pitchers with the largest differentials between their ERA and xFIP in each direction.

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It’s only been 30+ games into the season, but there have been a few substantial changes so far. Let’s take a look at who has moved, and how the stalwarts have fared.

Tier 1:
Hanley Ramirez
Troy Tulowitzki
Jose Reyes

Despite his awful start, I refuse to move Ramirez from Tier 1. He’s too young and his track record is too good to give up on yet. If he’s still hitting below .200 with one home run come July, then we’ll talk. After a torrid start Tulowitzki has cooled off, but he still leads all shortstops in home runs with 8 and will likely end the season as one of the best players in all of fantasy baseball. Reyes is the newcomer to the Tier. Originally in Tier 2, his outstanding play, coupled with the overall blah-ness of the position propelled him up. A .329 average with 12 steals will do that for a person.

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Earlier this week we updated our closer rankings, and now it’s time to focus on the guys often pitching the most important innings, the middle relievers. This update is geared towards holds (here’s the preseason rankings), and frankly this list could go on for forever. I had to cut myself off at some point, so I did so at 30 players. Here’s the current holds leaderboard for reference…

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The first month of the season has gone by. How is your team looking? Are you satisfied? Probably not, right? Does the urge to drive to Miami and beat up the slumping Hanley Ramirez grow stronger by the day? Are you sending threatening letters to Carlos Pena? Do you believe Jered Weaver’s hot start has been aided by the Luck Dragons?

If your answers to the above questions is “yes”, well, you may need more help than I am able to provide. However, if you feel capable of moving on, then may I suggest it time for you to start looking into the trade market. Today I’m going to focus on a pitcher with familiar names who, while off to great start, isn’t likely to keep up his current level of performance, creating an excellent sell high candidate.

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It’s always tough to find power on the waiver wire. If your team doesn’t seem to be hitting home runs, it’s not as if you would expect to find 30+ home runs out on the wire. Fortunately, it’s still early in the season and there’s a chance to grab some power before other owners realize what’s out there. Pat Burrell and Hank Conger are two players that should help you out in the power department. Right now, both are available in many leagues.
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Managing a bullpen isn’t just something for MLB managers, if you’re in a deep league or one that counts holds, you need to be aware of everyone’s workloads to optimize your roster on a day-to-day basis. Every team has played at least 16 games so far and a few have already played 20, but there are still 29 relievers that have appeared in ten or more games already, including four that have appeared in 11. At some point those workloads will come down, either through a manager’s decision or injury/ineffectiveness. Let’s look at a handful of guys that have been called into more than half their team’s games so far…

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Going into the season I noted just how shallow the shortstop position was. Behind Tulowitzki and Ramirez, the cupboard was barely stocked with anything useful.  Over the past two weeks we’ve seen some surprise players start to hit far above expectations and make a name for themselves. Is their success sustainable? Probably not in most cases, but in the fantasy world we ride hot streaks as far as we can. At the same time there have been more heralded shortstops who have struggled to get things going. For the first time this season lets take a look at the Risers and Fallers at shortstop

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